What's the saddest word in the English Language?
almost.
•°°•°°•°°•°°•°°•°°•°°•°°•°°•°°•°°•°°•°°•°°•°°•°°•°°•°
A Luke Hemmings fanfiction AU
⚠️Mature content
Behind even the brightest of smiles, lies the darkest of storms
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
a/n - this chapter includes talk of night terrors/panic attacks- indicated by the ⛈️. I really wouldn't want to upset anyone so please if you need to skip the first section, please scroll down until you see the 💙 after that there will be no more description of panic attacks. 🫶
Tossing and turning.
12am,
1am,
2am.
Memories bitter and sweet, from years ago and from yesterday, circled like vultures preying on her weak soul.
Her mind was like a tornado, her body shaking, dark shadows haunting and taunting her.
Visions from the past plaguing her, reliving the trauma, the terror.
Her body thrashed from side to side. Legs kicking, arms failing as the fine line between dream and reality blurred.
"Mum, stop!" Eleanor screamed, sobs wrenched out of her, knees tightly pressed to her chest, fingers pulling her sweat covered hair, desperately rocking in a chaotic rhythm.
Chase heard the commotion from his room and sprinted to the terrified girl. He switched on her bedside light, gently sitting next to her.
"Hey Ellie, I'm right here" His hand rubbing circles on her back.
Her lungs hyperventilated, her stomach churned, palms sweaty, heart erratic. She felt like her chest was about to explode; breathing becoming harder and harder. Frustration setting in- why couldn't her stupid brain just let go already? She thought moving half way around the world would rid her of the guilt, would vanquish the trauma but still it lingered unwantingly so.
Eleanor always hated having panic attacks because it made her feel weak and vulnerable. It made her feel unclean and sinful. The more she tried to ignore it throughout the day; the uglier and more evil the nightmares.
Chase brought the sweaty girl into his arms, rubbing her arms trying to bring some comfort. He had become accustomed to looking after her.
During university, Eleanor would have a night terror every single night as a minimum sometimes multiple would cripple the innocent girl. Having Chase live in the same apartment helped Eleanor start to talk and process her childhood and teenage years and gradually her night terrors became less frequent, now she would rarely have more than two in a week.
After a grueling, mind numbing forty-five minutes her breathing regulated and hormones leveled.
"Everything's going to be alright, I promise" Chase repeated, pressing a kiss to her temple.
Eleanor's shoulders finally shrunk back to her usual posture as she sunk into her best friend's chest, eyes red and swollen, eventually falling asleep in the comfort of his arms.
